bourbon st

I got around to finishing this painting started on location on Bourbon St. I'm really pleased with how it came out especially with the color and composition... it has a good feeling for dusk and a nice movement to the crowd. On location I got all the street and buildings but only scratched in the figures. With a few stills from some camera phone videos I fleshed out the crowd in my studio. It was a fun night and the only painting on the trip where I was left entirely to my own devices to just find someplace captivating and paint. And since I just happened to be staying about a block from this spot what else could I do? oil on canvas, 24 by 18

painting at Epicenter 2010

I got back yesterday from two days of painting at the Epicenter Music Festival. The Hive Gallery artists, Nathan's favorites, got invited to paint at this rock show out at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. What a blast, but VERY HOT! ahahahh! I managed to make four paintings, three in the day and one night scene. I also took in some fun acts like KISS, eminem, and Suicidal Tendencies. I was surprised at how much the people there were into what I was doing, always folks watching and many compliments. It is a challenge painting crowds because it's always changing... but it's also always in the same place, like waves on the ocean, so if you keep at it I find it works out eventually. It was fun to get to be there and paint a little feeling of the spectacle. oil on canvas. updates: I promised to post fan photos and Amanda "my biggest fan" came through! these are my favorites, everyone has such a range of expressions. Thanks for sending them! also here's a youtube link to a camera video I uploaded from the concert update! more fan photos! thanks Wanda and Eric!

nitty gritty los angeles

I was invited by a dj promoter to paint at a twice yearly event he helps put on called nitty gritty los angeles. It's a dance party from 10pm to 7am held in various locations and this year was in a huge warehouse under the 10 freeway. They had me painting out in the back by the food trucks where everyone came out to relax and cool off. I laid out a scene and then when around sketching people and putting them in the painting. They were all having a great time and digging the piece as it unfolded, it was a very toulouse lautrec evening! here's a little slice of that night. acrylic and glitter on canvas, 30 by 40

treescape with squirrel

I went out with a friend to paint in the gardens at the City of Hope hospital. They were beautiful, like a mini Huntington Library! But I was most interested in the colors coming through the trees and the squirrels and the desire to throw some paint around! so here's a treescape, if squirrels could paint they would paint like me! oil on canvas, 30 by 24

the examiner

Meagen Boyd wrote a fantastic article about my painting in the Examiner and I wanted to share it on my blog! It's thoughtful and really captures my feelings about art and painting. awesome!! here's the link: Alex Schaefer: sensualism vs. conceptualism in the realm of painting

antoine's, algier's point, and white linen night

Here are three paintings started or finished in New Orleans. I got the painting of Antoine's to where I like it! It has a luminous light, I really tried to recall my memory of the soft, warm ambiance overall peppered with bright spots of light. Also the owner of Antoine's and her grand daughter, whom I got to meet during my visit, are now in the painting. Yesterday I just got back a package of a few more paintings I did out there, so here is a plein air of the view of the Crescent City from Algier's Point, and a painting of the crowd at dusk out having fun for White Linen Night on Julia Row. oil on canvas, 24 by 30, 18 by 36, and 18 by 24

tommy's burgers

for the past few days I've been plugging away in my studio working on paintings from New Orleans, so I have been itching to get out and do some plein air painting. This morning I was painting Antoine's restaurant and this afternoon I was painting Tommy's Burgers in Eagle Rock, such visual and culinary variety! ahahhaha! oil on canvas, 24 by 12 (click here for my previous Tommy's painting)